Uranium distribution as a proxy for basin-scale fluid flow in distributive fluvial systems

We infer system-scale fluid flow in the Late Jurassic Salt Wash fluvial succession (SW USA) by plotting uranium deposit distribution against sedimentological data, using uranium distribution as a proxy for subsurface fluid flow. More than 90% of uranium deposits in the Salt Wash occur where sandstone forms 40–55% and sand-rich channel-belts form 20–50% of the succession, which coincides with changes in channel-belt connectivity and gross-scale architecture. The paucity of uranium below these cut-off values suggests that fluid flow is related directly to predictable downstream fining and facies variations in distributive fluvial systems

Building a training image with digital outcrop models

Current standard geostatistical approaches to characterizing subsurface heterogeneity may not capture realistic facies geometries and fluid flow paths. Multiple-point statistics (MPS) has shown promise in portraying complex geometries realistically; however, realizations are limited by the reliability of the model of heterogeneity upon which MPS relies, that is the Training Image (TI). Attempting to increase realism captured in TIs, a quantitative outcrop analog based approach utilizing terrestrial lidar and high-resolution, calibrated digital photography is combined with lithofacies analysis to produce TIs. Terrestrial lidar scans and high-resolution digital imagery were acquired of a Westwater Canyon Member, Morrison Formation outcrop in Ojito Wilderness, New Mexico, USA. The resulting point cloud was used to develop a cm scale mesh. Digital images of the outcrop were processed through a combination of photogrammetric techniques and manual digitizing to delineate different facies and sedimentary structures. The classified images were projected onto the high-resolution mesh creating a physically plausible Digital Outcrop Model (DOM), portions of which were used to build MPS TIs. The resulting MPS realization appears to capture realistic geometries of the deposit and empirically honors facies distributions

Analysis of practice of the social support of families with disabled children and children with limited opportunities of health in the municipality Pervouralsk

Social development of disabled children and children with limited opportunities of health isone of the most important problem in modern society.These children have a broken relationship with the world, rather low mobility, they are limited in contacts with peers and adults. Disabled persons and persons with limited opportunities of healthare characterized by alienation, isolation from society, dissatisfaction with their situation, which is associated primarily with loneliness, the presence of the problem of adaptation to their situation and the need to overcome psychological discomfort. The relevance of a problem also increases in connection with increase in number of such children. This article analyzes statistical data on the number of disabled children and children with limited opportunities of health in the city of Pervouralsk, and forms of their social support are considered. Presents the results of a survey of parents of children with various types of violations of vital functions with the aim of identifying the level of need in the introduction of new forms of social support. Now most of parents aren't satisfied with measures of the social support provided by the state. As a new form of social support it is proposed to introduce the technology of support apartment accommodation for children with disabilities and children with limited opportunities of health. For this purpose, special apartments are organized in which children with disabilities and children with limited opportunities of health live under the constant supervision of social workers. This innovative form contributes to the acquisition of self-service skills, self-control and communication, household management. Children are integrated into a single educational and social rehabilitation process. The created conditions of stay contribute to the formation of skills of independent life, social competence.В современном обществе одной из наиболее актуальных проблем является социальное развитие детей-инвалидов и детей с ограниченными возможностями здоровья. У таких детей нарушена взаимосвязь с миром, достаточно низкая мобильность, они ограничены в контактах со сверстниками и взрослыми. Для инвалидов и лиц с ограниченными возможностями характерны отчужденность, отгороженность от жизни общества, неудовлетворенность своим положением, которая связана, прежде всего, с одиночеством, наличием проблемы приспособления к своему положению и необходимостью преодоления психологического дискомфорта. Актуальность проблемы также возрастает в связи с увеличением числа таких детей. В статье проанализированы статистические данные о численности детей-инвалидов и детей с ограниченными возможностями здоровья в городе Первоуральске, а также рассмотрены формы и их социального сопровождения. Представлены результаты опроса родителей детей с различными типами нарушений жизнедеятельности с целью выявления уровня потребности во внедрении новых форм социального сопровождения. В настоящее время большинство родителей не удовлетворены мерами социальной поддержки, предоставленной государством. В качестве новой формы социального сопровождения предлагается внедрение технологии сопровождения квартирного проживания детей-инвалидов и детей с ограниченными возможностями здоровья. Для этого организуются специальные квартиры, в которых под постоянным присмотром социальных работников проживают дети-инвалиды и дети с ограниченными возможностями. Данная инновационная форма способствует приобретению навыков самообслуживания, самоконтроля и общения, ведению домашнего хозяйства. Дети интегрируются в единый воспитательный и социально-реабилитационный процесс. Создаваемые условия пребывания способствуют формированию навыков самостоятельной жизни, социальной компетентности

Fluvial geomorphic elements in modern sedimentary basins and their potential preservation in the rock record: a review

Since tectonic subsidence in sedimentary basins provides the potential for long-term facies preservation into the sedimentary record, analysis of geomorphic elements in modern continental sedimentary basins is required to understand facies relationships in sedimentary rocks. We use a database of over 700 modern sedimentary basins to characterize the fluvial geomorphology of sedimentary basins. Geomorphic elements were delineated in 10 representative sedimentary basins, focusing primarily on fluvial environments. Elements identified include distributive fluvial systems (DFS), tributive fluvial systems that occur between large DFS or in an axial position in the basin, lacustrine/playa, and eolian environments. The DFS elements include large DFS (> 30 km in length), small DFS (< 30 km in length), coalesced DFS in bajada or piedmont plains, and incised DFS. Our results indicate that over 88% of fluvial deposits in the evaluated sedimentary basins are present as DFS, with tributary systems covering a small portion (1–12%) of the basin. These geomorphic elements are commonly arranged hierarchically, with the largest transverse rivers forming large DFS and smaller transverse streams depositing smaller DFS in the areas between the larger DFS. These smaller streams commonly converge between the large DFS, forming a tributary system. Ultimately, most transverse rivers become tributary to the axial system in the sedimentary basin, with the axial system being confined between transverse DFS entering the basin from opposite sides of the basin, or a transverse DFS and the edge of the sedimentary basin. If axial systems are not confined by transverse DFS, they will form a DFS. Many of the world's largest rivers are located in the axial position of some sedimentary basins. Assuming uniformitarianism, sedimentary basins from the past most likely had a similar configuration of geomorphic elements. Facies distributions in tributary positions and those on DFS appear to display specific morphologic patterns. Tributary rivers tend to increase in size in the downstream direction. Because axial tributary rivers are present in confined settings in the sedimentary basin, they migrate back and forth within a relatively narrow belt (relative to the overall size of the sedimentary basin). Thus, axial tributary rivers tend to display amalgamated channel belt form with minimal preservation potential of floodplain deposits. Chute and neck cutoff avulsions are also common on meandering rivers in these settings. Where rivers on DFS exit their confining valley on the basin margin, sediment transport capacity is reduced and sediment deposition occurs resulting in development of a ‘valley exit’ nodal avulsion point that defines the DFS apex. Rivers may incise downstream of the basin margin valley because of changes in sediment supply and discharge through climatic variability or tectonic processes. We demonstrate that rivers on DFS commonly decrease in width down-DFS caused by infiltration, bifurcation, and evaporation. In proximal areas, channel sands are amalgamated through repeated avulsion, reoccupation of previous channel belts, and limited accumulation space. When rivers flood on the medial to distal portions of a DFS, the floodwaters spread across a large area on the DFS surface and typically do not re-enter the main channel. In these distal areas, rivers on DFS commonly avulse, leaving a discrete sand body and providing high preservation potential for floodplain deposits. Additional work is needed to evaluate the geomorphic character of modern sedimentary basins in order to construct improved facies models for the continental sedimentary rock record. Specifically, models for avulsion, bifurcation, infiltration, and geomorphic form on DFS are required to better define and subsequently predict facies geometries. Studies of fluvial systems in sedimentary basins are also important for evaluating flood patterns and groundwater distributions for populations in these regions

Prograding distributive fluvial systems—geomorphic models and ancient examples

Recent work indicates that most modern continental sedimentary basins are filled primarily by distributive fluvial systems (DFS). In this article we use depositional environment interpretations observed on Landsat imagery of DFS to infer the vertical succession of channel and overbank facies, including paleosols, from a hypothetical prograding DFS. We also present rock record examples that display successions that are consistent with this progradational model. Distal DFS facies commonly consist of wetland and hydromorphic floodplain deposits that encase single channels. Medial deposits show larger channel belt size and relatively well-drained soils, indicating a deeper water table. Proximal deposits of DFS display larger channel belts that are amalgamated with limited or no soil development across the apex of the DFS. The resulting vertical sedimentary succession from progradation will display a general coarsening-upward succession of facies. Depending on climate in the sedimentary basin, wetland and seasonally wet distal deposits may be overlain by well-drained medial DFS deposits, which in turn are overlain by amalgamated channel belt deposits. Channel belt size may increase upward in the section as the DFS fills its accommodation. Because the entry point of rivers into the sedimentary basin is relatively fixed as long as the sedimentary basin remains at a stable position, the facies tracts do not shift basinward wholesale. Instead, we hypothesize that as the DFS fills its accommodation, the accommodation/sediment supply (A/S) ratio decreases, resulting in coarser sediment upward in the section and a greater degree of channel belt amalgamation upward as a result of reworking of older deposits on the DFS. An exception to this succession may occur if the river incises into its DFS, where partial sediment bypass occurs with more proximal facies deposited basinward below an intersection point for some period of time. Three rock record examples appear to be consistent with the hypothesized prograding DFS signal. The Blue Mesa and Sonsela members of the Chinle Formation at Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona; the Tidwell and Salt Wash members of the Morrison Formation in southeastern Utah; and the Pennsylvanian–Permian Lodéve Basin deposits in southern France all display gleyed paleosols and wetland deposits covered by better-drained paleosols, ultimately capped by amalgamated channel belt sandstones. In the Morrison Formation succession, sediments that represent the medial deposits appear to have been partially reworked and removed by the amalgamated channel belts that show proximal facies, indicating that incomplete progradational successions may result from local A/S conditions. The prograding DFS succession provides an alternative hypothesis to climate change for the interpretation of paleosol distributions that show a drying upward succession

Modeling Multiscale Heterogeneity and Aquifer Interconnectivity

A number of methods involving indicator geostatistics were combined in a methodology for characterizing and modeling multiscale heterogeneity. The methodology circumvents sources of bias common in data from borehole logs. We applied this methodology to the complex heterogeneity within a regional system of buried valley aquifers, which occurs in the western glaciated plains of North America and includes the Spiritwood Aquifer. The region is conceptualized as having a hierarchical organization with three facies assemblage types (large-scale heterogeneity) and two facies types within each assemblage (small-scale heterogeneity). We statistically characterized the sedimentary architecture at both scales, formulated indicator correlation models from those characterizations, and used the models to simulate the architecture in a multiscale realization. We focused on the interconnectivity of units creating higher-permeability pathways. Higher-permeability pathways span the realization even though the proportion of higher-permeability facies is less than the percolation threshold. Thus, geologic structures as represented in the indicator correlation models create interconnectivity above that which would occur if the higher-permeability facies were randomly placed. This amount of interconnection among higher-permeability facies within the multiscale realization is consistent with that suggested in prior hydraulic and geochemical studies of the regional system